# Guys, I need some expert advice, these fake?



## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Ok, I will get some pictures posted but I need to know if you guys think these Cohibas are fake.

Some of them are supposedly from the 80's so I don't know if the bands looked different or the QC wasn't as good as it is now.



Some things that looked off to me was the color of yellow on the band and the way the band was glued together, its not quite a perfect alignment like what one would expect.

The alignment on the band doesn't scream fake to me like some of the others I have seen but everyone says it should be PERFECT and these bands are off just enough that it makes me question it.


These are cigars that I already have in my possession.

I will get some pictures up of the cigars in question so you guys can help me here.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

These pictures suck, I will take better ones but these are these sticks in question.


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## tedski (Oct 1, 2004)

The first thing is obvious ... Cohiba never printed bands upside down. 

Second ... if you have to ask, then chances are very good these are not legit.
1. Always purchase from reliable vendors ... or people who buy from those vendors and can back up their claims.
2. Legit Cohibas from the 80's will generally have very loose bands, be covered in plume, and will be quite expensive.


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## piperdown (Jul 19, 2009)

Josh, we need better pictures of the bands. Close ups are even better.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

tedski said:


> The first thing is obvious ... Cohiba never printed bands upside down.
> 
> Second ... if you have to ask, then chances are very good these are not legit.
> 1. Always purchase from reliable vendors ... or people who buy from those vendors and can back up their claims.
> 2. Legit Cohibas from the 80's will generally have very loose bands, be covered in plume, and will be quite expensive.


Well, the thing is that I'm not very well trained in the world of CC's.

What seems legit to me might scream fake to those with more experience.

I was going through my humidor last night and looked at them a little closer.......just made me wonder I guess.

They could be real, I'm not sure.

They are not as obviously fake as a lot of them I see.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

piperdown said:


> Josh, we need better pictures of the bands. Close ups are even better.


going to lunch in a hour, I will get some.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

ok, here they are Eric.... @piperdown

Pics aren't the best but I think they will be good enough.


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## tedski (Oct 1, 2004)

You can't always tell by the bands (or boxes for that matter). Real or very close to real bands are easy to obtain / make.
Trusted sources are the only way to go.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

tedski said:


> You can't always tell by the bands (or boxes for that matter). Real or very close to real bands are easy to obtain / make.
> Trusted sources are the only way to go.


Just going off of the picture of the bands...............whats the verdict?


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

The C in Cuba does not cross over, the band is embossed, the comma is not dead center and there are 3 rows of squares. The cigars are also triple capped. The bands look pretty good to me but they are not from the 80s. The bands from the 80/ are not embossed and have two rows of squares.

More seasoned guys, feel free to correct me here.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

I need to correct myself, these are from 08 not 80.

I was looking at the date upside down. :new_all_coholic:


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Are you from Australia or something?


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

08 should be good to smoke. Fire one up and report back. You should know as soon as the flame meets the leaf!


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Scott W. said:


> Are you from Australia or something?


UH.........no?

Why?


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Perfecto Dave said:


> 08 should be good to smoke. Fire one up and report back. You should know as soon as the flame meets the leaf!


Problem is, I have so little experience with CC's that I really don't know what to look for after I light one up.

It could be fake and I'd never know because I have no past experience to base it upon.


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## commonsenseman (Apr 18, 2008)

Upside-down humor, only Aussies get it.

They look pretty good to me too, but tough to say for certain without knowing the source. You have no additional info about where they came from?

Even if these are your first CC's, you should be able to at least tell that they're different. Since they're from 08 there shouldn't be much harshness & there should be a unique twang to them. Give one a try & report back, my guess is that if they're fake, they'll be pretty bad.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

commonsenseman said:


> Upside-down humor, only Aussies get it.
> 
> They look pretty good to me too, but tough to say for certain without knowing the source. *You have no additional info about where they came from?*Even if these are your first CC's, you should be able to at least tell that they're different. Since they're from 08 there shouldn't be much harshness & there should be a unique twang to them. Give one a try & report back, my guess is that if they're fake, they'll be pretty bad.


yes and no.....

I will leave it at that.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Scott W. said:


> The C in Cuba does not cross over, the band is embossed, the comma is not dead center and there are 3 rows of squares. The cigars are also triple capped. The bands look pretty good to me but they are not from the 80s. The bands from the 80/ are not embossed and have two rows of squares.
> 
> More seasoned guys, feel free to correct me here.


No corrections needed perfect answer!
To the original poster nothing looks out of place with the bands those are used from 2003 and up!
Smoke em to know for sure light em up!


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

huskers said:


> Problem is, I have so little experience with CC's that I really don't know what to look for after I light one up.
> 
> It could be fake and I'd never know because I have no past experience to base it upon.


Understand....we all start somewhere. Hopefully not with a fake! but I think you'll know once you get 1/4 of the way into it. I mean it not like you should passout or have an out of body experience but go ahead fire one up and give a report. Don't be shy..


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

huskers said:


> yes and no.....
> 
> I will leave it at that.


Did you get these off craigslist?


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Perfecto Dave said:


> Did you get these off craigslist?


No, they were from another person that enjoys cigars.


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## piperdown (Jul 19, 2009)

The bands look right but as others have said the only way to know is to smoke one. Since they're from '08 they should be old enough to enjoy and they won't taste like anything non-Havana, i.e., pepper, intense profile.


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

huskers said:


> No, they were from another person that enjoys cigars.


Josh, dive in and enjoy the water. We're as excited to hear about your experience as you are to burn one up!
Don't forget the hoto:


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Perfecto Dave said:


> Josh, dive in and enjoy the water. We're as excited to hear about your experience as you are to burn one up!
> Don't forget the hoto:


This! Light one up and share the experience bro!


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## Jerren (Jul 3, 2013)

So what was the outcome?


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Jerren said:


> So what was the outcome?


Well, I haven't gotten to it yet.....

If you all are sincerely interested, I will light one up this weekend.


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## JG5000 (Dec 28, 2012)

The bands look ok to me. The way these are glued on looks normal as well, you would think they would be a little more neat but, not always. With out holding it in your hand it's hard to tell. 

How is the pack? under filled? lumpy? soft spots? 

Like everyone said, smoke one : )


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## knilas (Sep 15, 2013)

huskers said:


> Well, I haven't gotten to it yet.....
> 
> If you all are sincerely interested, I will light one up this weekend.


 Do it now Josh! We're on pins n needles here. . Better yet, pass em around....we'll give you a full report!


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

knilas said:


> Do it now Josh! We're on pins n needles here. . Better yet, pass em around....we'll give you a full report!


Lol, gonna have to tune in next week so see what the next episode brings!


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## nikesupremedunk (Jun 29, 2012)

huskers said:


> Problem is, I have so little experience with CC's that I really don't know what to look for after I light one up.
> 
> It could be fake and I'd never know because I have no past experience to base it upon.


You could save it for later when you are more experienced with Cohibas to see if they are fake or not. Or you can send one to someone with a bit of experience and see what they say. I haven't had a fake cohiba yet but I hear it's pretty easy to tell.


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

nikesupremedunk said:


> You could save it for later when you are more experienced with Cohibas to see if they are fake or not. Or you can send one to someone with a bit of experience and see what they say. I haven't had a fake cohiba yet but I hear it's pretty easy to tell.


LOL............If I send it to someone, I wouldn't even have the cigar obviously.

At that point, there really is no interest for me rather its real or fake.


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## Merovius (Sep 11, 2013)

They look good to me. What did he tell you they were? How much did you pay?

Relating to the topic of fakes and band swapping. Ive only peeled over a dozen or so Habanos bands but I recall them sticking pretty well and being messy to remove, the rippin' and the tearin', the rippin' and the tearin'. I know that Habanos uses "Highly adherence of the paper (plastic) Auto-destructive, Self-destructive" papers on their boxes to prevent tampering. Does anyone know if this same adhesive/paper is used to band their cigars?


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Merovius said:


> They look good to me. What did he tell you they were? How much did you pay?
> 
> Relating to the topic of fakes and band swapping. Ive only peeled over a dozen or so Habanos bands but I recall them sticking pretty well and being messy to remove, the rippin' and the tearin', the rippin' and the tearin'. I know that Habanos uses "Highly adherence of the paper (plastic) Auto-destructive, Self-destructive" papers on their boxes to prevent tampering. Does anyone know if this same adhesive/paper is used to band their cigars?


It was a trade.


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## Saint Jimbob (Aug 21, 2008)

Well, what are you waiting for, neighbor.. smoke one already!! By the by, you going to the Nebraska Cigar Festival in a couple weeks?

I recently witnessed a box of Cohiba Espys that looked pretty rough, no date/factory code on the bottom, and they looked pretty fugly, even without the tragic beetle holes in half of them. The bands looked pretty good, the older 'La Habana, Cuba' orangy ones. Shame that the cigars looked pretty beat, even if they were authentic.

I'll stick to my favorite Bolivars and Partagas..


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## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Saint Jimbob said:


> Well, what are you waiting for, neighbor.. smoke one already!! By the by, you going to the Nebraska Cigar Festival in a couple weeks?
> 
> I recently witnessed a box of Cohiba Espys that looked pretty rough, no date/factory code on the bottom, and they looked pretty fugly, even without the tragic beetle holes in half of them. The bands looked pretty good, the older 'La Habana, Cuba' orangy ones. Shame that the cigars looked pretty beat, even if they were authentic.
> 
> I'll stick to my favorite Bolivars and Partagas..


I am going to the fest. See you there?


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## Saint Jimbob (Aug 21, 2008)

Absolutely! Bringing coworker and legendary cigar wing-man Uncle Booga (aka Da Biscuit Boy, Larry). Should be a good night, getting Miles liquored up and in top form..


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